As Oscar Wilde once famously said, “only the unimaginative can fail to find a reason for drinking Champagne.” This fizzy drink has long been a go-to for the affluent, especially in times of celebration. We think of champagne as a symbol of luxury, parties and special occasions, a treat favoured by high-fliers, celebrities and royalty. Marilyn Monroe is said to have bathed in the stuff. But how did it become such a premium item? Why do so many of us see champagne as the ultimate luxury drink?
Champagne Bureau UK director Francoise Peretti says that its popularity among the rich began in France in the fifth century. The country's kings were coronated in Reims Cathedral, in the region of Champagne. Because of its locality and quality (the terrain in that area added to the unique taste), champagne wines are said to have flowed freely at the coronation banquets and it became the practice to offer champagne wines to any royal visitors to the region. As such, it became the coronation drink in France and subsequently fashionable throughout the royal courts of Europe.
"Its high quality and locality both contributed to it being chosen by monarchy and nobility since Clovis’ baptism in Reims in the fifth century," says Peretti. "His coronation marked the birth of the kingdom of France and established champagne as the wine of coronation, later known as 'the wine of kings and the king of wines.'"
The original sparkling wine, champagne soon became the finest in the market. When Louis XIV was crowned in Reims in 1654, he is reputed to have sent wines from the region to Charles II. By the 19th-century, champagne was consumed at every major British occasion, from royal weddings to high society parties.
Tim Graham
Hulton Archive
"Champagne came to symbolise the spirit and culture of liberal thinking," explains Peretti. "Its reputation continued to spread throughout the 19th-century, a time of prosperity and celebration when no high society event was complete without it. Wherever people partied, they partied with champagne – right up to the turn of the century when champagne entered its golden age, toast of the Belle Epoque and the Roaring Twenties."
Although the French unarguably lay claim to having invented champagne, it was in fact, the Brits who were the first to favour a Brut, a much drier variation of the sweet Gallic original. Today, 80 per cent of champagne produced is Brut. "Sweeter styles such as Sec and Demi-Sec are still produced, but are rarer and are surprisingly fresh on the palate," says Peretti. "They’re best paired with spicy food and desserts."
Today, champagne has maintained its status as the luxury drink of choice. "It's a symbol of status, prestige and quality, but also a symbol of joy and celebration," says Peretti. "It is a happy drink which elevates any occasion and experience – the simple act of opening the bottle and hearing the soft pop never fails to bring a smile to people’s faces."
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